Tag Archives: tucson electric power

State action may threaten about 40,000 jobs in Arizona’s energy industry, but those jobs aren’t ones that immediately come to mind. Instead, the 40,000 jobs – more than coal, wind, solar, oil and gas combined – are in energy efficiency.

Utility companies across the state are asking the Arizona Corporation Commission for changes to the way they handle solar customers. Some utilities are suggesting a change to the rate they pay solar customers for excess energy produced by rooftop solar panels, while Arizona Public Service is asking to increase its fee on solar users from $5 to $21 on average each month.

Less than two years after the Arizona Corporation Commission settled on a small surcharge for residential solar, utilities are back before the regulatory body asking for bigger fees and setting the next stage for what some describe as an existential battle over the future of renewable energy here and perhaps across the country.

Arguing that solar customers don’t pay their fair share for its service, Tucson Electric Power today asked the Corp Comm to allow it to pay less for the excess energy produced by rooftop panels, which, if approved, would cut solar customers’ savings by about 22 percent per month for a typical system.